Many special effects in modern cinematography and animation are the result of nonintuitive and labor intensive electronically assisted manipulations of image data. The same may be said of scientific applications, such as event simulations based upon a limited set of discrete data. Much of the work necessary to view, edit, and create images is rendered cumbersome by the interfaces typically utilized for such operations.
Traditional two dimensional input devices, such as the mouse, have been used with relative success by human operators, but with serious drawbacks including repetitive stress injuries. For an operator performing data manipulation on a mouse and keyboard, specification of a single image or other data object typically would require six separate mouse and/or keyboard operations, three for position (x, y, z) and three for rotation (x, y, z). Typically, the six components would be managed by an operator through separate setting of each component via the mouse, or by typing separate numerical values for the components. The same process must be undertaken to alter a perspective view of an object, frequently referred to as camera placement. The data intensive nature of image manipulations and data simulations quickly renders relatively simple operations extremely cumbersome, and potentially uncomfortable or harmful to an operator performing a large number of the input operations in repetitive fashion.
The two dimension input scheme for three dimensional environments is also counterintuitive. This initially presents a hurdle to new users, who may take a large amount of time to learn and understand the commands and specifications necessary for the entry of three dimensional data or commands via the two dimensional interface or a text interface. For experienced users, the need to interact with the two dimensional input and text interfaces is distracting, preventing absolute focus on the work being conducted.
In some respects, these problems are similar in nature to the difficulties encountered by early computer users who were required to rely on mere textual input for two dimensional display manipulation. The more intuitive window based menu systems lower the amount of knowledge necessary to perform operations in the environment. Similarly, the window based environments allowed easier transition to unfamiliar applications. With two dimensional input interfaces for three dimensional data object spaces, the same difficulties are revisited, as different applications might have different input formats.
Much trial and error is also involved in the two dimensional manipulation of three dimension data as an operator first enters a believed desired set of location and rotation coordinates only to find that the end result is not what was intended. Just as persons who have lived with the U.S. set of standard measures such as feet and inches have difficulty appreciating the distance of a meter without conducting a mental calculation, users of the two dimensional interface have difficulty appreciating the effect of a coordinate set in a three dimensional data space.
Another difficulty in conventional systems for operations on three dimensional data structures concerns the acquisition of an initial set of data on which operations are to be performed. Many conventional techniques use motion capture. For example, motion capture may be used to define a set of data for human motion and facial expression on which subsequent operations are to be performed. The motion capture input tends to be noisy, though, and accordingly needs extensive post-processing to be useful.
Accordingly, there is a need for a new system for performing operations on three dimensional data structures which addresses the aforementioned difficulties and disadvantages. It is an object of the present invention to provide such an improved system.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved system for performing operations on a three dimensional data structure, the system including a three dimensional and voice controlled interface and a data immersion environment permitting an operator to interact with three dimensional data structures in the immersion environment through intuitive use of the interface.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved system for performing operations on a three dimensional data structure which permits choreographed visualizations of time variant data and analysis of the data from multiple perspective angles.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide an improved system for performing operations on a three dimensional data structure which permits an operator to perform data structure operations through voice commands and spatial gestures.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide an improved system for performing operations on a three dimensional data structure which is less cumbersome and more intuitive to users.